Lost California Man Rescued After Two Days in Bear Country With Fractured Leg

A man from Tiburon, California was rescued from the Bob Marshall Wilderness early Tuesday, August 7. The man had been missing since Sunday according to Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton.

“A 68-year-old male left from an outfitters camp up in the Bob Marshall Wilderness,” Dutton said. “The individual was there was a group and had made a couple of sandwiches and decided he was going to an area that was north of where the camp was. When he left he was wearing shorts. He was not really prepared for an all day excursion, but Mr. George Brown left camp and that was the last he was seen.”

The man suffered a severe injury to his left leg during his solo trek, according to Dutton he had wandered far from the trail up a very steep slope.

Photo Courtesy of Leo Dutton

“He was pushing himself up off trail, sliding on his bottom and using his legs to push himself up,” Dutton said. “He got quite a bit off trail and slipped and it did fracture his leg as he came tumbling down. He didn’t make it all the way back to the trail, but he survived a couple of days in bear country being wounded. That is a blessing.”

Dutton says rescue teams were able to transport Mr. Brown back to a location in Pretty Prairie where Mercy Flight was able to pick him up and fly him out to Benefice Hospital in Great Falls for treatment.